Hawaiian Airlines, which has been cautious about adding back transpacific capacity, plans to restart service to Auckland (AKL) from July 2.

The Honolulu (HNL)-AKL route will be operated 3X-weekly with an Airbus A330 aircraft configured with 278 seats, including 18 in business class and 68 in premium economy. The route, suspended because of the COVID-19 pandemic, had been served by Hawaiian since 2013.

Hawaiian’s transpacific network now comprises American Samoa (PPG), French Polynesia (PPT) and Sydney (SYD). SYD service was restarted in December 2021.

The carrier has not resumed flying to Japan or South Korea, two of its most lucrative international markets.

“Our July return [to New Zealand] comes at just the right time as Kiwis looking to get away this winter can now take a much-needed tropical escape to the Hawaiian Islands or visit the continental United States [via onward connections from HNL],” Hawaiian regional director for Australia and New Zealand Andrew Stanbury said.

“The resumption of our New Zealand service, along with the restart of our Sydney service in December [2021], completes the reopening of our Oceania market–an integral piece of our company’s post-pandemic recovery.”

Hawaiian has made the decision not to resume service to Brisbane (BNE) in Australia, saying the route is not viable, at least in the short term.

For the full-year 2022, Hawaiian is planning to operate capacity that is down 3% to up 1% versus 2019.